This week in AI
A week full of announcements: OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health, a new experience dedicated to health. Z.ai (formerly Zhipu AI) officially goes public in Hong Kong. ElevenLabs announces a major investment in New York. Claude Code continues its rapid evolution with v2.1.0.
ChatGPT Health: AI for your health
January 7, 2026 — OpenAI unveils ChatGPT Health, a dedicated space within ChatGPT for conversations related to health and wellness.
Key Features
ChatGPT Health allows you to securely connect:
- Electronic Health Records (EHR) via b.well (US only)
- Apple Health for fitness, sleep, and activity data
- Wellness Apps: Function, MyFitnessPal, Weight Watchers, AllTrails, Instacart, Peloton
Enhanced Privacy
| Aspect | Protection |
|---|---|
| Isolation | Distinct space with dedicated memories |
| Encryption | Dedicated encryption for health data |
| Training | Health conversations not used to train models |
| Control | Disconnect apps at any time |
Developed with Doctors
OpenAI collaborated with over 260 doctors in 60 countries for two years. The model evaluation relies on HealthBench, a framework developed with these clinicians.
Availability
ChatGPT Health is currently available in limited access via waitlist. Availability will expand on web and iOS in the coming weeks.
Health is already one of the most common uses of ChatGPT, with hundreds of millions of people asking health and wellness questions every week. — OpenAI
Z.ai goes public in Hong Kong
January 8, 2026 — It’s the big day for Z.ai (formerly Zhipu AI). The Chinese company makes its official debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Today is a big day, but it also feels like just another day of the journey. “From the GLM architecture in 2020 to the brand transformation in 2025, it took us five years for more people to finally see us.” — @Zai_org on X
This IPO crowns an exceptional year 2025 for Z.ai, marked by the launch of GLM-4.7, which became #1 among open-source models on Artificial Analysis, and the rebranding from Zhipu AI to Z.ai.
ElevenLabs invests $33M in New York
January 6, 2026 — ElevenLabs announces the expansion of its operations in New York City with a $33 million investment in R&D.
| Investment | Jobs | Location |
|---|---|---|
| $33M | 230 new roles | Manhattan |
The announcement was made by Governor Kathy Hochul, highlighting the growth of the New York AI ecosystem.
New York’s AI ecosystem keeps growing. @GovKathyHochul announced that global AI leader @ElevenLabsio will expand its NYC operations — creating 230 new jobs and investing $33M in R&D to scale frontier audio and AI technologies in Manhattan. — @EmpireStateDev on X
Claude Code v2.1.0: Skills and /plan
January 2026 — Anthropic continues the rapid evolution of Claude Code with version 2.1.0.
New Features
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Skill Hot-Reload | Created/modified skills are immediately available without restart |
| Forked Sub-Agent Context | Skills and slash commands can run in a forked context (context: fork) |
| /plan | New command to activate plan mode directly |
| Wildcard Bash | Patterns like Bash(npm *), Bash(git * main) for permissions |
| Vim Motions | Extended support: ;, ,, yank/paste, text objects, indentation |
Security
An important fix corrects the potential exposure of sensitive data (OAuth tokens, API keys, passwords) in debug logs.
Terminal Improvements
Shift+Enter now works natively in iTerm2, WezTerm, Ghostty, and Kitty without additional configuration.
What this means
OpenAI positions ChatGPT as a health companion, a sensitive field where privacy is critical. The collaborative approach with 260+ doctors and the HealthBench framework shows a desire for medical credibility.
Z.ai confirms the ambition of Chinese AI players on the global stage. The IPO in Hong Kong opens new funding opportunities to accelerate the development of GLM.
ElevenLabs strengthens its presence in the United States, confirming New York as a major AI hub alongside San Francisco.
Claude Code continues its rapid iteration pace with features oriented towards advanced developers (skills, hooks, agents).